Mahan believes that the main routes of the ocean can bring a lot of commercial benefits, so there must be a strong fleet to ensure the right to control the sea, as well as enough merchant ships and ports to take advantage of this benefit.

Mahan also emphasized the value of marine military security, arguing that the ocean can protect the country from fighting at home, and the influence of sea power on war is greater than that of the army. He advocated that the United States should establish a powerful ocean fleet to control the Caribbean Sea and the waters near the Isthmus of Central America, and then control other oceans, so as to further utilize the maritime interests of Southeast Asia and China together with the great powers.

Mahan's sea power theory has a great influence on the policies of governments in the future. American President theodore roosevelt's "big stick policy" to control Central America is based on Mahan's theory.